


Unwanted

by Camellianswer



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X
Genre: Denial, Gen, Hunter Base, Maverick Hunters, Rejection, X is kinda mean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 22:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18647149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Camellianswer/pseuds/Camellianswer
Summary: Being wanted on a dead or alive poster and being wanted by his lifelong heroes were two different things. Since one of those two options was denied to Axl, the old wanted poster was starting to sound pretty nice again…





	Unwanted

“I assigned Kronos to this one.”

“Kronos?” Zero sounded puzzled. “You know Axl is more experienced than him. You should have assigned him.”

“Someone like Axl shouldn’t be a Hunter in the first place.”

Axl was a fast learner, and in his first few months on site he had come to expect this kind of thing from X. With a wry smile, he turned and went back down the hall, arms crossed behind his head like he didn’t have a care in the world.

With his power, it was quite easy to give the appearance of something he was not.

 

* * *

 

 

Zero looked at the door and then back at X. “He was probably listening, you know.”

“What does it matter? It’s nothing I haven’t told him before.”

This was the sort of thing that irritated Zero to no end. He scowled and turned back to the monitor.  “You could go easier on him. He’s had a hard time.”

“So have we all.” X replied coldly, already moving on to the next report.

“So then what’s your problem? Why are you deliberately trying to break him down? He’s lost a lot. He killed his friends…”

“And that’s supposed to endear him to me?”

“For Cain’s sake, X! What do you have against him?”

“Why do YOU favor him so much? Answer me that, Zero. When you picked him up he was an unregistered ‘loid running from his vigilante group and damaging the city in the process. He is a thief and an assassin and—”

“He is a CHILD!”

“Exactly.”

“What do you mean, ‘exactly?’”

“This is war. You and I, we’ve been at it for hundreds of years…” Fatigue crept into his cold eyes, and he sighed. “I’m not about to rush at the chance to let Axl waste his life on something like this. He’s too young.”

There was a long pause as Zero mulled this over. Finally he said quietly “You’re protecting him.” It was almost a question.

“I’m protecting everyone. He’s not the kind of person who should be involved in this conflict.” Something about that tone, Zero hated. “He’ll do damage to himself and everyone around him. Unless you want to take responsibility for the fallout when he screws up, leave this to me. I already let him become a Hunter. Isn’t that enough?”

“Frag that, X – it’s Hunter in name only and you know it. It’s a load of scrap. It’s a lie.” Zero stood. “Lies aren’t like you. You changed after you left. I feel like you lost sight of something…”

The slightest movement of X’s eyes was all that betrayed his outward calm. He said nothing.

“Until you figure out what you lost…you’re the only one who’s going to hurt people.”

He still said nothing. X said nothing. X, the guy who used to keep him up nights talking about everything that was on his mind, the guy who never stopped talking about all manner of topics that were over Zero’s head. It was unnatural, and it made it feel like X was a million miles away.

Zero gave up and left. He headed for the sim room to blow off steam.

X remained at the computers, one half of his mind skimming reports and the other hating that Zero had reminded him that he’d changed…

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written X fiction in a while! Hope you like it. Critique would be very, very nice as my Rockman writing is rusty (pun entirely intended).


End file.
